Checkmate
by Klathulimancer
Summary: Aqua never understood why Terra liked the game so much. She especially never understood why she was so bad at it.


All was quiet in the library. As it well should be, Aqua thought to herself, for a non-quiet library is an abomination to the senses.

Aqua sat at a rather large table lain out amidst the countless scores of book-shelves, a small tome in her hands and a glazed look in her eyes. Yes, again, all was quiet. As it well should be.

"Aqua."

It was taking a lot of effort to ignore him nowadays, but she was getting good at it.

"Aqua."

Maybe not good enough.

"Aqua!"

Aqua sighed. Listlessly, she turned her spectacled eyes to the side and spoke audibly. "Yes, what is it, Terra?" She asked, trying her best to sound annoyed.

Aqua didn't know much of what she expected in return from her famously stubborn companion. Another question, perhaps? Some kind of biting or sarcastic remark? Perhaps even, if she dared herself fortunate, a healthy round of witty banter?

Instead, all she received was a loud thump as Terra's crestfallen image fell before her on the table. He turned to look at her, his eyes lidded and lax. "I'm bored."

Oh dear. Now this simply wouldn't do at all.

Aqua's expression shifted to one of odd disgust coupled with something almost akin to pity. Fortunately, she managed to compose herself, and after masking her change in demeanor with a brief sigh, Aqua quickly found her way back to her callous ways. Feigning apathy, Aqua turned her gaze back towards her book and replied, "You're in a library, Terra. Read a book."

Terra made _some _kind of noise, a mix between a sigh and some kind of long drawn out grunt, as he stood prostrate once more. He reached his arms outwards, motioning to the numerous shelves of books that surrounded them. "Aqua, I've lived here my entire life!" He said quite loudly. "I've _read _all these books. Seriously, you think the master would update his collection after 20 years, but **NO!**" Terra slumped over in defeat, but still managed to keep his head high.

Aqua was trying her best to look uninterested, even though it was getting exceedingly difficult. "Have you ever thought about, oh, I don't know, re-reading them?" She said, still refusing to turn from her book that she stopped reading quite a while ago.

Terra turned towards her, a look of disdain on his face. "Aqua, I'm not like you. I'm not crazy enough to read through foreign Keyblade War erotica 7 times and actually _enjoy _it." He finished with a slight smile on his face.

"H-hey!" Aqua said, an octave higher than before. In a single motion, she stood and turned towards Terra, her cheeks red and her eyes furious. "Now you listen to me! _'Passions of the Star Fruit'_ is an underrated **_masterpiece_**, infinitely better than that primordial drivel you fill your Neanderthal brain with!" Terra's smile grew wider at her words, as he stood up straight. "So, your tastes are a little more sophisticated, huh? Perhaps even… hierarchical…?"

Aqua's heart and face both began to fall as she slowly came to realize what Terra was building towards. "No." She said suddenly. Terra's unbearably cocky grin grew even wider. "One game. That's all I want!" Aqua's stare turned deadly, as she hissed out her response, "Not. On your. LIFE." Terra's smile fell somewhat, but it was too late to dissuade him. He had his heart set on one thing now. The game of kings.

"Chess." He said. "One game, winner gets the library all to themselves, and all the quiet that comes with it." Aqua covered her ears in defiance; she wouldn't let his words poison her resolve. "No!" She exclaimed as she turned to run out the door. "Never! NEVER!" On her mad dash out of the library, Aqua could have sworn she saw Ven passing by, a look of utter confusion on his face. But she couldn't afford to stop and explain. All she could do was hold out faith that one day he would understand.

And that he would never play Chess with Terra so long as he lived.

* * *

><p>Aqua was good at a lot of things. She was good at chores. She was good at magic.<p>

She was good at reading and writing, and she fancied herself a competent critic. She could make wonders in the kitchen, and the things she could do with a deck of cards would boggle the mind of even the most accomplished illusionists.

Terra was good at none of those things. But it's not like that mattered much, Terra never really wanted to be good at anything like that. All he ever wanted to do was fight, which is why Aqua never understood why he loved Chess so much.

Aqua wasn't good at Chess. It was actually kind of shocking, really. Chess is more a game about outwitting your opponent than just plowing through them, which is why she should be good at it. But no, for some unfathomable reason, Aqua was absolutely awful when it came to the so-called game of kings.

Perhaps it was some kind of cosmic mishap that occurred as she was being put together within her mother's womb, Aqua didn't know. But all that mattered to her was that she was utterly helpless when playing on a chess board. Terra, on the other hand, was a natural.

It made no sense, and to be honest, it was actually kind of scary sometimes. No one could beat him. Not Ven, not the Master, not even people from other worlds. And least of all, especially not Aqua.

It infuriated her to no end, and Terra knew this. It was something that she would never be able to change, something besides fighting that Terra was better at than her! Every time Aqua would do something incredible, or reach some kind of milestone, it didn't matter. Because no matter what she did, Terra was always better at Chess than her. And no amount of accomplishments would ever change that.

Learned how to summon fairies? Terra's still better at Chess. Finished writing a novel? Terra's still better at Chess. Learned Mega-Flare? Terra's still better at Chess. Defeated a time traveling abomination of nature? Actually, Terra did that too, so it doesn't really count, but you get the idea.

And so, here she was. Hiding in a storage closet like a frightened little girl, the very notion of a simple game striking fear into her soul.

"Aqua." Terra's voice sounded from outside. Aqua stilled her breathing, trying to trick herself into thinking that made her harder to find.

"Aqua, I know you're in there." His voice sounded once again, but she wasn't listening. She still had her hands to her ears.

"Aqua, the Master taught us how to sense each-other's auras years ago. You know that hiding is pointless." He said, his voice muffled by the wall between them. Of course, Aqua knew that. But that didn't mean that she was ready to accept it.

"Aqua, please. Just one game, and I promise I'll leave you alone." Aqua pouted. He said please.

His voice resounded one last time. "Please." She sighed. He said it again.

Carefully, she moved to unlock the door to her little hidey-hole. It opened to reveal Terra standing at the entrance, looking a little sad, but still expecting an answer. Aqua looked at him, her face tinted with small hints of worry and reluctance. "One game, on one condition." She said.

Terra's eyes lit up. "Anything."

Aqua's eyes narrowed in response as she grabbed his throat and pulled him in close. "Never. Again."

* * *

><p>Aqua begrudgingly took her seat at the table. Terra had already set up the game in the library, figures. He knew she would crack.<p>

Terra sat opposite Aqua, his cocky grin now out in full force. He rubbed his hands together excitedly as he gazed out over the chess board and said, "Alright, let's get this show on the road." Aqua rolled her eyes. The amount of joy he was taking in this was rather sickening.

Terra looked over at Aqua, his smile turning into a sly grin. "Ladies first." He said, as he motioned for her to proceed. Aqua scoffed. "How courteous of you." She said.

Aqua turned her attention back towards the board, and began to absentmindedly stroke her chin in deep thought. Don't misunderstand; she hated the game, but if this was really going to be the last time she played with Terra, she wanted to give it everything she had. After a few pensive moments, Aqua moved one of her pieces forwards. She was hoping to lead Terra into a trap too obvious for him to see, so that she could claim some of his more important pieces. Aqua may have been bad at the game, but she knew Terra's style. He would try to win with as many casualties as possible, just to add insult to injury.

Terra's sly grin returned as control shifted to his side. "My turn." He said maliciously. In a single motion, he moved one of his pawns to f3, a first move that almost always set the flow of the game in the opponents favor. Aqua almost jumped. The move was mad, even for Terra's standards. She turned to look at him, and practically yelled, "Are you crazy?"

Terra's only response was to sit back, confidently, with that ever-present grin still etched on his face. "Your move." Aqua's eyes narrowed. Okay, so that's how he wants to play.

What followed was too much for any single person to recall. In what can only be described as a flurry of Chess bound fury, Aqua and Terra exchanged move for move on a second by second basis. For every piece that Aqua lost, Terra would go out of his way to make sure he lost two in exchange. And yet, somehow, Aqua still found herself on the losing end of things at every step of the way. In a matter of moments, the game-board had been whittled down to a sparse few pieces, and any outside observer would have immediately called it a stalemate. But Aqua knew better, Terra would never allow for something so menial. It was always part of the plan

But then, the tempo shifted. Terra stopped, and his eyes grew wide. He paused for several moments, as he surveyed the aftermath of his endurance match with Aqua. Stunned, he looked up and spoke clearly. "Wow, Aqua. You might actually win this time." Aqua's eyes widened in response, as she too looked down upon the game-board.

Sure enough, Terra had been locked into a desperate position. With only a pawn and two rooks left in addition to the king, his case seemed hopeless. Aqua couldn't believe it. She was almost too afraid to believe it.

As the utter crushing weight of the situation finally began to dawn upon her, the corners of Aqua's mouth began to contort into a demented and toothy grin. "You're right." She muttered. "You're right!" She said again, almost trying to convince herself even further.

She looked up at Terra, whose expression was slowly growing increasingly distressed. His eyes darted back and forth across the game board, his mind desperately trying to find an impossible solution to an impossible situation.

And Aqua was loving every moment. So, this is what the legendary Terra looked like when he was desperate. Delicious.

Terra had said nothing, and he honestly didn't need to. His face belied his dying confidence, and the slow realization of just how dire the situation really was. It truly looked like he would fold at any moment.

Now, all that remained was the final move. Relishing the moment, Aqua leaned over the table, her slightly disjointed expression filling Terra's haggard vision. It was time for the final blow. "Terra." She mockingly jabbed. "It's your move."

And just when it seemed like the entire world was about to stand still, fate decided to intervene. Of course it did. It always did.

"**TERRA! AQUA!**" The Master's voice resounded from outside. Terra's hypnotized gaze on the Chess board broke as he turned towards where the voice sounded. Aqua's crooked smile disappeared as she also turned in sort, her face red with burning fury. "**_WHAT!?_**" Aqua snapped in frustration. She really didn't care what the Master thought of her right now, she could apologize when she was lucid.

If the Master was surprised at Aqua's tone, he certainly didn't sound like it. "**I need your help! I think Ventus is trying to fly on his Keyblade!**" Aqua sighed, venting her inner rage as she started to calm down. "**_Master, I'm sure that you can handle –_**"

**"****He's about to jump off the main plaza!**" Aqua and Terra immediately turned to meet each-other's gaze, their expressions shifting to a sour mix of worry and a strange kind of look that said, "not again".

"**_VEN!_**" They yelled simultaneously, as the two proceeded to high-tail it out the library and towards the front of the castle.

* * *

><p>Aqua sighed as she placed a gentle hand upon her forehead, trying to quell the headache her young friend's antics had brought. For hindsight, she replayed what he said in her mind, something along the lines of "Don't worry! If I can't fly, I'll just come back up and try again!" Aqua sighed once more, although she had to give Ven credit. He could certainly make a very compelling argument for jumping to his demise.<p>

However, now that he was firmly planted in the study hall with an intimidating round of physics lectures ahead of him, Aqua could finally get back to her game with Terra.

Turning into the library, Aqua was hardly surprised to see Terra waiting for her, pensively looking over the Chess board once again. He had left the scene a little earlier than Aqua, since Ven specifically demanded that she stay and tell him how old she was when she learned how to fly the Keyblade (she was sixteen, by the way. She beat Terra by a year.)

Aqua wasn't worried about Terra being alone with the board, however; she knew that he would never cheat at a game that meant so much to him. Aqua let a cocky grin adorn her features as she moved to sit back down. "You can look all you want, Terra, but sooner or later you'll have to face the facts." She said, her cockiness reaching the levels of Terra in his prime. "The simple truth is, you've finally los-"

"Ah!" Terra finally said, as he made a quick motion with his Rook, capturing Aqua's king in a single, devastating motion. "Child's play." He said confidently, as he crossed his arms in victory. "Checkmate, Kiro."

Aqua froze. She didn't hear that. He was lying. What, one final jab to try and crush her spirit? Pathetic, simple! You'll have to try harder than that, Terra. She looked down. Her king was gone. It made sense.

No, this wasn't happening. It just wasn't. Aqua simply REFUSES to let it happen. Oh no. No, no, no, no. It was happening. It was. And Aqua couldn't change it. She couldn't change anything. She felt like a little girl again. Helpless, frail. She hated feeling that way. How could he do this? How could he make her feel this way? No, this was her fault. She made her feel like this. It was her fault. It was all her fault.

That was just about the breaking point. Aqua could handle a lot of things. She could handle Amnesia, just fine. She didn't need a majority of that part of her life, anyhow. She could handle the possibility of never having a boyfriend, because hey, that just gave her more time for her books. She could even handle one of her only friends almost getting himself killed, though that was pushing it. But this? Losing to Terra in Chess, even one more time? She simply couldn't take it.

And to top it all off, he used her nickname. How dare he.

Aqua's right eyebrow began to twitch rapidly, as her eyes started darting back and forth. She began to swing her arms sporadically, as her mind slowly began to fade into unfathomable pain and rage. All Terra could do was look on in concern and slight confusion. "Uhm, Aqua?" Suddenly, she turned to look at him, and yelled out something quite unexpected.

"Swong." It didn't make much sense, of course. And Aqua never really found out why she said it, but everyone seemed to agree that it fit the moment.

In a single, jerky motion, Aqua lept from her chair and out of the library. She sprinted down the halls while continuing to swing her arms wildly, as she began to laugh like a maniac.

Terra got out of his chair, and looked back at her as she gallivanted off. "Does this mean you're not open to a rematch?" He yelled after her.

* * *

><p>Aqua ran out of the Castle and through the main plaza, passing Ven and the Master on her way out. Needless to say, Eraqus was confused, and Ven was terrified.<p>

"Stay here, Ventus." Eraqus said, as he began to follow Aqua, perplexed.

Terra immediately followed out of the building, and quickly took notice of Ventus. "Ven!" He called out, as he stopped and knelt before him. "Hey, did Aqua happen to pass by here?" He asked. Ven's only response was a confused, "Uhm…"

Terra looked up in a start, as a large pillar of flame erupted from the sparring grounds. He looked back at Ven and said, "Thanks, Ven, I'll be back in a bit. Trust me; this doesn't happen as often as you'd think." He patted Ven on the shoulder, and then proceeded to run off towards Aqua.

Eraqus stood before the large tornado of fire that had appeared not too far ahead of him, completely at a loss. "Aqua?" He spoke out, "Are you alright?"

In response, Aqua's voice sounded from within the tornado. "OF COURSE I AM, MASTER! WHY WOULD YOU EVEN ASK SUCH A THING? I JUST HAVE TO SHOOT A COUPLE THOUSAND FIREBALLS AT THESE STUPID FLOATING METAL RINGS! HAHAHAHAHA!" Immediately following Aqua's words, several balls of flame emerged from within the tornado and relentlessly struck the training equipment nearby. Fortunately, it was indestructible.

It was then that Terra arrived on the scene. Stopping besides his master, he was forced to shield his eyes from the burning air and blinding light of Aqua's fire. "She's really going at it, huh?" Eraqus nodded in response. Terra turned towards the Master, and said, "Should we do anything?" Eraqus shook his head. "She… just needs some time." He said.

Terra looked back towards the giant pillar of flame burning before him, and the maniacal laughter that continued to sound within. Yeah, that was probably a good idea.

* * *

><p>It took Aqua a good half hour to burn herself out. Honestly, if she could have, she would have gone on for days. But fortunately enough for her companions, she had a finite magic pool.<p>

Now, she lay upon a large circle of scorched grass, staring up at the sky. Tinted orange by the setting sun, it probably helped contribute to her growing sense of peace.

Terra's face entered her vision. Well, it was nice while it lasted. He looked surprisingly relaxed, given what had just happened. But then again, so did Aqua. "Hey." He said.

Aqua's expression remained placid. "Hey." She replied. Terra sighed, as he took a seat beside her. "You scared the life out of Ven, you know." Aqua stayed motionless. "Sorry. I'll apologize to him when we get back to the castle." Terra nodded. "You better."

A long moment of silence followed, as both sat calmly before the sunset. Suddenly, Terra broke the stagnant pause. "I cheated." Aqua's eyes widened, as she finally sat up. She turned to look at Terra, and asked incredulously, "What?"

Terra sighed once more. He turned to look at her. "I cheated. I moved before we left… and again when we got back. We skipped your last turn, so you would have won."

Aqua's stare was piercing, almost empty. Terra could tell that she was still processing what he said. Finally, she managed a smile. "Thank you, Ara." With that, she stood, brushed herself off, and walked away.

Terra turned to watch her leave, and blinked. It was rare for them to use each-other's nicknames, but that was probably the last thing on his mind. "Thank you…?" He said, to no-one in particular.

Still a little surprised, Terra turned away and sighed. For a while, he sat quietly, mewling over the day's events. If nothing else, it certainly turned out a bit more exciting than he thought it would at first.

Maybe that was good enough.


End file.
